My recent Verizon home phone bill included a charge for "dir asst chg" called to 101-515-800; it was 1 minute and cost $5.49 + $1.65 for "USF Carrier Admin Fee" and $.36 in State Tax. It was listed under "Other Providers" OAN Services. I never heard of OAN and never dialed the number listed.

Ironically, before calling OAN to demand a refund and explanation, I called an 866 number to activate a new credit card. Instead of getting connected I got a message about some new national directory service that started with a "10". I hung up then tried the same 866 number and this time was connected normally. But, I just realized how the scam works. Somehow, OAN is able to intercept calls to 800 and 866 numbers that are made from residential lines and they slyly advertise their service which almost sounds like you have no choice since as the consumer all you wanted was to reach the number you just tried to dial. Instead, you now have some explanation of a service to connect your call. I could see how people could unwittingly use the service. They must bank on the fact that if every family in the US makes this mistake just once a year they make millions.

I called and demanded that they remove the charge and block this service from my phone. They said they did block it but when I requested a transaction number for the service block I was just given the name of the employee "Bob" and his employee ID # 83759 (he must feel special about that and it says a lot about the kind of company Bob works for). So, I wasted 30 minutes of my day that I normally spend playing with my young daughters. Thank you OAN and Verizon!